Grote Reber, 1981 & 1992

Grote Reber was interested in a broad range of topics beyond radio astronomy - including meteorology, lava flows, botany, archaeology - and was often ahead of his time in his thinking. In the late 1970s, concerned about the growing energy crisis and the increased use of fossil fuels, he built an energy-efficient house in Tasmania. Reber wrote about the house into which he had recently moved in his March 1981 letter to Canadian radio astronomer John Galt: "So far, it has been quite pleasant. However, proof of performance will be next winter." The house did perform extremely well, and in 1990 Reber received an energy efficiency reward from the state government and the Hydro Electric Commission. In this photo, Reber stands in front of his new house in 1981, and adjusts his basement ductwork in 1992.

Papers of Grote Reber

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From the NRAO eNews, vol. 12, #1, 28 January 2019

Still Image

reber-house-1981-basement-ducts-1992.jpg

1981

1992

Martin George, Launceston Planetarium, Tasmania

High resolution .tif available.

Photographs Series

People Unit

Grote Reber Subunit